Wolfgang Tillmans was born on August 16, 1968. He is a German fine-art photographer known for paying close attention to his surroundings and exploring how photography works.

Tillmans was the first photographer and the first person from a country other than Britain to win the Turner Prize. He has had major exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Moderna Museet. In 2023, he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine. He currently lives in Berlin and London.

Early life and education

Tillmans was born in 1968 in Remscheid, a city in the German region of Bergisches Land. Between the ages of 14 and 16, he visited museums in Düsseldorf and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. There, he saw artwork by Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. These artists were some of his earliest influences. In 1983, during a visit to England as an exchange student, he learned about British youth culture and looked at local fashion and music magazines from that time. In high school, he became friends with Alexandra Bircken and Lutz Huelle.

From 1987 to 1990, Tillmans lived in Hamburg. In 1988, he had his first solo exhibitions at Café Gnosa, Fabrik-Foto-Forum, and Front. From 1990 to 1992, he studied at the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design in southern England.

Work

After completing his studies, he moved to London and then to New York in 1994 for one year. There, he met the German painter Jochen Klein. After returning to England, Tillmans lived with Klein until Klein passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1997.

From 1995, Tillmans mainly lived and worked in London. In the summer of 1998, he participated in a one-month stay at the last active Shaker community in the world, located in Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

Since 2007, Tillmans has split his time between Berlin and London. In Berlin, his studio is in an annex of a modernist building built in the early 1930s, designed by the architect Max Taut.

Tillmans was first known for casual, snapshot-like portraits of friends, such as fashion designer Lutz Huelle and artist Alexandra Bircken, and others in his social circle. His photos, such as those from the Europride in London (1992) or the Love Parade in Berlin (1992), appeared in magazines like i-D, Spex, Interview, SZ Magazin, and Butt. These images helped build his reputation as a key observer of social movements. In 1997, he became a co-editor of Spex. For Index Magazine, he took photos of John Waters, Gilbert & George, and Udo Kier.

Tillmans was called the "documentarian of his generation, especially of the London club and gay scenes." However, he said, "It was never my intention to be seen as diaristic or autobiographical. I was not recording the world around me or my group. There is a big misunderstanding that still exists." Half of his work is arranged by him, including choosing clothes, locations, and positions for models. His photos of friends Lutz and Alex, published in i-D in 1992, are seen as important records of the 1990s. In his early photos, Tillmans showed freedom in a new way, saying, "I wanted to represent what was not being shown elsewhere." From 1992 to 1994, he lived and worked in London, moving to New York in 1994. During this time, he began showing his work more often, creating exhibitions with unframed photos pinned or taped to gallery walls. Color photos, inkjet prints, postcards, and magazine clippings were placed together, reaching nearly the ceiling and floor. He views each exhibition as a special installation, often treating the space as a larger composition.

Tillmans’ photography later included many types, such as portraits, still lifes, sky photos (like the Concorde series), astrophotography, aerial shots, and landscapes. His work is driven by both artistic and political interests, especially those related to homosexuality and gender identity. Tillmans said, "I take pictures to see the world." He creates images in three sizes, from small to large, either as signed, framed prints or as replaceable inkjet prints attached directly to walls. These prints are installed carefully, sometimes with photocopies, magazine clippings, or displayed in glass cases arranged in table setups. By treating all images and materials equally and rearranging them, Tillmans avoids giving his work any fixed meaning, allowing it to be reinterpreted.

In 2009, after using an analog 50 mm Contax SLR camera for over 20 years, Tillmans switched to digital photography. In 2012, he stopped using film entirely and became a full-time digital photographer. In an interview, he described the shift from using viewfinders to camera monitors as "completely changing the psychology of photography, which has always been a dialogue between the photographer, the subject, and the imagined image." He explained that the higher resolution of digital photos reflects "a transformation in the whole world," adding, "In recent years, everything has become HD, so I think it is inevitable that the overwhelming nature of this information density is reflected in my images. In this way, they again describe my sense of perception today."

Wolfgang has a strong interest in streets and clubs. These interests influence his work, along with his involvement in the gay rights movement.

The Concorde Grid consists of 56 photos of the same size, taken around London as part of a commission for Tillmans’ exhibition at Chisenhale Gallery in 1997. The photos were taken from various places, including private gardens, parks, railway tracks, and the perimeter fence around Heathrow Airport. They show the daily movement of an airplane. The Total Solar Eclipse Grid (1998), which was part of his Turner Prize installation and is now in the Tate’s permanent collection, records a solar eclipse. Each of the 21 photos in the grid was taken during the eclipse in a tropical location, with varying light and detail. The Snow/Ice Grid (1999) is a set of images showing trampled and melting ice and snow.

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Tillmans' Experience with AIDS

Tillmans got HIV when he was 26 from his boyfriend, Jochen Klein, a German painter and someone he worked with on art projects for most of his life. Klein died from AIDS in 1997. In an interview with SHOWStudio's Lou Stoppard, Tillmans said that after this experience, he believes life is delicate and should not be wasted.

In the same interview, Tillmans explained that some of his artwork shows how he felt about HIV and AIDS.

In 2022, the New York Times asked Tillmans to photograph Anthony Fauci for an essay. This was Tillmans' first task for the newspaper. The newspaper also published a conversation between Tillmans and Fauci about HIV.

Books

• Wolfgang Tillmans. Cologne: Taschen, 1995. Reprinted in 2002. ISBN 978-3-8228-8853-7
• Wolfgang Tillmans. Zurich: Kunsthalle Zürich, 1995; JRP/Ringier, 2008. ISBN 978-3-905829-36-5
• Wolfgang Tillmans. Frankfurt am Main: Portikus, 1995
• Wer Liebe wagt lebt morgen. Ostfildern-Ruit: Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 1996
• Concorde. Cologne: Walther König, 1997. ISBN 978-3-88375-273-0
• Wolfgang Tillmans: Burg. ISBN 978-3-8228-7881-1. Cologne: Taschen, 1998. Reprinted as Wolfgang Tillmans, 2002
• Totale Sonnenfinsternis. Cologne: Galerie Buchholz, 1999
• Wako Book 1999. Tokyo: Wako Works of Art, 1999
• Soldiers—The Nineties. Cologne: Walther König, 1999. ISBN 978-3-88375-377-5
• Wako Book 2. Tokyo: Wako Works of Art, 2001. ISBN 4-902070-19-7
• Portraits. Cologne: Walther König / Distributed Art Publishers, 2001. ISBN 978-1-891024-36-8
• Aufsicht / View from Above. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2001
• AC: Isa Genzken/Wolfgang Tillmans. Cologne: Museum Ludwig, Walther König, 2001
• Wolfgang Tillmans. London and New York: Phaidon, 2002. ISBN 0-7148-4192-7
• If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters. London: Tate, 2003
• Wako Book 3. Tokyo: Wako Works of Art, 2004. ISBN 4-902070-25-1
• Freischwimmer. Tokyo: Tokyo Opera City Gallery, 2004
• truth study center. Cologne: Taschen, 2005. ISBN 3-8228-4640-6
• Freedom From The Known. New York and Göttingen: P.S.1/ Steidl, 2006. ISBN 3-86521-263-8
• Wolfgang Tillmans. Los Angeles. New Haven and London: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2006. ISBN 0-300-12022-2
• Why We Must Provide HIV Treatment Information. London: HIV i-Base, 2007. Photography by Tillmans.
• Sprengel Installation. Hannover: Sprengel Museum, 2007
• manual. Cologne: Walther König, 2007. ISBN 978-3-86560-132-2
• Wolfgang Tillmans and Hans Ulrich Obrist. The Conversation Series, Vol. 6. Cologne: Walther König, 2007. ISBN 978-3-86560-133-9
• Wako Book 4. Tokyo: Wako Works of Art, 2008. ISBN 978-4-902070-31-6
• Lighter. Ostfildern and Berlin: Hatje Cantz and Hamburger Bahnhof—Museum für Gegenwart—Berlin, 2008. ISBN 978-3-7757-2187-5
• Wolfgang Tillmans: Interviews. Tokyo: Wako Works of Art, 2010
• Wolfgang Tillmans. London: Serpentine Gallery; Koenig Books, 2010
• Wolfgang Tillmans. Brochure. Liverpool: Walker Art Gallery, 2010
• Abstract Pictures. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2011
• Zachęta Ermutigung. Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 2011
• FESPA Digital / FRUIT LOGISTICA. Artist book. Cologne: Walther König, 2012
• Neue Welt. Cologne: Taschen, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8365-3974-6
• Wolfgang Tillmans. London and New York: Phaidon, 2013. ISBN 978-0-7148-6704-5

Discography

• 2016/1986 EP released by Fragile Records in 2016
• Device Control EP released by Fragile Records in 2016
• The track "Device Control" is part of the 2016 video album Endless by Frank Ocean
• Source (Roman Flügel Remixes & Original) released by Fragile Records in 2018

Exhibitions

In 1993, Tillmans had his first exhibition at the Galerie Buchholz in Cologne, even though he had already shown his work in Hamburg. In 1995, his work was included in an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London, which was organized by Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Since then, Tillmans' work has been displayed in large solo exhibitions at European museums, such as the Kunsthalle Zürich (1995), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (1998), Museum Ludwig in Cologne (2001), Castello di Rivoli in Italy (2002), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2002), the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin (2008), and Serpentine Gallery in London (2010).

Tate Britain held a major mid-career exhibition of Tillmans' work in 2003. In 2006, MoMA PS1 in New York hosted Tillmans' first exhibition at an American museum. The same year, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles organized Tillmans' first major retrospective in the United States, which later traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. In 2010, Tillmans participated in an exhibition called FAX at the Torrance Art Museum in California. His first exhibition in South America was held at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art in 2012. Tillmans was included in the Venice Biennale in 2005 and 2009.

In 2004, the Portikus in Frankfurt invited Tillmans to curate an exhibition titled Inventory / Scott King / Donald Urquhart, which featured works by three artists from London. In 2008, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam asked Tillmans to be a guest curator, allowing him to select works by Isa Genzken, Roberto Matta, and Ellsworth Kelly from the museum's collection.

Tillmans carefully plans his exhibitions, ensuring that printed, audiovisual, and textile materials interact with the spaces where they are displayed. His focus on detail, such as the pins, clips, and tape used to hang artwork, has led him to work with a dedicated team. Team members include Danish sculptor Anders Clausen, Chilean biologist and architect Federico Martelli (since 2006), and Colombian artist Juan Echeverri (since 2012).

• Kunsthalle Zürich, 1995 (exh. cat.)
• Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany, 1995 (exh. cat.)
• I Didn't Inhale, Chisenhale Gallery, London, 1997
• Isa Genzken, Wolfgang Tillmans, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, 2001 (exh. cat.)
• View from Above/Aufsicht, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany, 2001
• Vue d'en Haut, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2002; Veduta dall'alto, Castello di Rivoli/Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy, 2002 (exh. cat.)
• Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands
• if one thing matters, everything matters, Tate Britain, London, 2003 (exh. cat.)
• View From Above, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebœk, Denmark, 2003 (exh. cat.)
• Wolfgang Tillmans, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, 2004
• Freedom From The Known, MoMA PS1, New York, 2006 (exh. cat.); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., 2007 (exh. cat.); Pinakothek der Moderne (permanent collection), Munich
• Beugung, Kunstverein München, Munich, 2007
• Lighter, Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, 2008 (exh. cat.); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
• Serpentine Gallery, London, 2010 (exh. cat.)
• Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2012
• Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Bogotá, 2012
• Stedelijk Room, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2012 (permanent exhibition as part of the collection)
• New World, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 2013
• Book for Architects, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2015
• Your Body is Yours, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka, 2015
• PCR, David Zwirner Gallery, New York, 2015
• Wolfgang Tillmans: 2017, Tate Modern, London, 2017
• Wolfgang Tillmans: Fragile, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 2018
• Wolfgang Tillmans: How likely is it that only I am right in this matter?, David Zwirner, New York
• Wolfgang Tillmans: Today is the first day, Wiels, Brussels, 2020
• Sound is Liquid, Mumok, Vienna, 2021/22
• Wolfgang Tillmans: To Look Without Fear, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2022–2023
• Wolfgang Tillmans: To Look Without Fear, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 2023
• Wolfgang Tillmans: To Look Without Fear, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2024

• Manifesta 10, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2014

Other activities

After holding a teaching position at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg from 1998 to 1999 and receiving an Honorary Fellowship at the Arts University Bournemouth in 2001, Tillmans worked as a professor for Interdisciplinary Art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main from 2003 to 2006.

In 2011, he traveled to Haiti with the charity Christian Aid to record efforts to rebuild the country after a major earthquake that occurred the year before.

From 2009 to 2014, Tillmans served as an Artist Trustee on the Tate Board. He is also a member of the museum's Collection Committee and the Tate Britain Council. In 2017, he joined the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). In 2019, he became the chair of the ICA's board. In this role, he helped organize an auction at Sotheby's in October 2022 to support the ICA. Artists such as Tacita Dean, Richard Prince, and Anish Kapoor contributed to the event.

As part of the first "Artist-to-Artist" program at Frieze London in 2023, Tillmans suggested Mark Barker for a solo exhibition at the fair. In 2024, he was part of a group that chose Simone Fattal as a winner of the Akademie der Künste's Berlin Art Prize.

Before the 2016 vote in Britain about whether to leave the European Union, Tillmans used his time and studio resources to support keeping Britain in the EU. Before Germany's 2017 elections, he created posters opposing the far-right Alternative for Germany party. Ahead of the 2024 European elections, he gave 50,000 euros to the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Awards

• 1995: Ars Viva
• 2000: Turner Prize
• 2009: Culture Award, German Society for Photography
• 2013: Elected Academician, Royal Academy, London
• 2014: Charles Wollaston Award, which is the main prize of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and included a prize of £25,000
• 2015: Hasselblad Award, Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2015: Royal Photographic Society Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship
• 2018: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2018: Nino Gennaro Award, Sicilia Queer Film Festival
• 2023: Time 100

Personal life

Tillmans lives between Berlin and London. He has owned a beach house in Fire Island Pines, New York since 2016.